Fugitives rescued from sailboat in Galveston Bay arrested in Bahamas

A fugitive couple who quickly disappeared after they and their seven children were rescued from a foundering sailboat in Galveston Bay in October have been arrested in the Bahamas.

Donald and Karlien Winberg and their children were found Wednesday or early Thursday on a different boat and carrying a "substantial" amount of cash, said the U.S. Attorney's office in Denver, where the two were indicted for wire fraud last year.

The couple had been on the lam for almost five months, but Galveston authorities were unaware of their fugitive status at the time of the rescue. The Winbergs offered false names and a phony story about a long vacation trip. It was only weeks later, when no one came to retrieve the boat, that local officials discovered that the two were accused con artists whose ill-fated sailing venture was in fact a getaway attempt.

"I'm glad the children are safe, and it's a sad situation for the parents, at least as far as what the kids are going to have to go through now," said Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset. "That's where my thoughts go, all the children that someone else, possibly, is going to have to take care of."

Donald Winberg, 43, and Karlien Winberg, 33, are charged with a fraudulent scheme from 2010 to 2012 that netted millions of dollars from unsuspecting farmers who were promised deliveries of hay that did not exist. One Colorado farmer wired two advance payments totaling more than $1 million after meeting the Winbergs in Idaho and Texas and being shown vast fields of hay. But the farms did not belong to them.

After indictment, the Winbergs made a court appearance, secured bonds and hired legal counsel. They became fugitives in September after failing to show up at a hearing and hadn't been seen until slipping the grasp of the law in Galveston and driving away in their SUV.

The Winbergs apparently had been living in West Texas before they were indicted, though few people other than them know exactly where. They surfaced in the Houston area in October and purchased a sailboat in Kemah, paying $20,000 cash and using fake names. They lived aboard the boat at a local marina until shortly before setting out Oct. 29.

Twist of fate

As luck would have it, a cold front that swept through the area that day apparently challenged their limited sailing skill. They decided to return and dock the boat but veered from a channel and got stuck on a sand bar. The family was pulled from the water by members of the San Leon Volunteer Fire Department, with the youngest of the children requiring resuscitation.

The couple gave their names as James and Mary Martin, telling authorities their identification was under water along with the rest of their possessions. It seemed an odd thing, Trochesset said, for parents to pull their older children out of school to go sailing, but there was no indication any law had been broken.

When the "Martins" never returned to remove the boat, part of which remained above water, suspicions arose.

The sheriff's department discovered their fugitive status in November, confirming the odd feelings of some deputies who had wondered why the family was so quick to leave after rescue, piling into their Nissan SUV as soon as the hospital had checked out their 1-year-old.

Extensive manhunt

Since then, the FBI and U.S. Marshal's office had been looking for them, believing their intention was to reach Mexico or a Caribbean island.

The biggest victim of their alleged swindle, David Faucette, was particularly frustrated by the Winbergs' ability to avoid capture.

"It hurt a lot," Faucette, 57, said of the apparent scam that snared him. "I didn't lose my farm, but it was a big setback. You can't lose that much money and not have it set you back. I will be paying this off for the rest of my life."

Perhaps worse was the damage done to his son, Jeremy, who had arranged the hay purchase, Faucette said in a telephone interview before the Winbergs were caught. The Faucettes are hay farmers near Alamosa, Colo., who sell to dairy farmers in need of feed. Drought had limited their production, leading Jeremy to search for a source of supplemental hay on specialized internet sites. That is where he came across Donald Winberg's listing.

"He went into a shell and told my wife that he was considering taking his own life," Faucette said. "He thought he had been such a failure."

But other farmers were scammed, too. The 15-count indictment cites email communication between "Winberg Farms" and eight other potential customers. The Winbergs claimed to own farms in Idaho and Texas and to farm a variety of crops. They said they had up to 65,000 tons of hay, which was good news to Faucette, who thought he could easily meet the needs of his own customers and turn a decent profit.

In truth, the Winbergs owned little save for a small family farm in Blackfoot, Idaho, that had belonged to Donald Winberg's late father. And they did not control that property, which was encumbered by numerous judgments and tax liens. Court records indicate the couple owes almost $700,000 in back taxes and has not filed a federal income tax return since 2005.

The Winbergs' recent life is a puzzle. They told Faucette they were from a farming background in Idaho, which he believes likely is true given their extensive knowledge of area farms, crop pricing and other agricultural matters. Court records indicate Donald Winberg also had a trucking business for a number of years.

But some of those same records suggest their life was a financial disaster, with bills unpaid and judgments and liens mounting. The couple filed a Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition in March 2014 - their second bankruptcy filing - and the trustee's report mentioned at least 71 liens on their property. The bankruptcy was dismissed after the trustee concluded it was a sham and filed in bad faith.

"These debtors are … willing to file cases that they do not intend to complete when it suits their needs and in this particular case they needed to file this (petition) to stop a creditor from foreclosing on the Blackfoot property," the trustee report stated.

Most of their years since childhood appear to have been spent in small Mormon farming communities in southern Idaho, mostly in Blackfoot, known as the "Potato Capital of the World" and home to the Idaho Potato Museum. Yet neighbors told court investigators they had not seen them there since 2012. Court records state the old home is uninhabited and uninhabitable.

Somehow the Winbergs ended up in West Texas. They told Faucette they had bought a farm near Pecos and wanted to be closer to their regular dairy farm customers. It is unclear whether they did purchase property there, though it is certain they bought their used Nissan SUV there.

Their attorneys had no good address for them. Word was all nine family members might have been staying in a motel.

Missing money

What happened to the money from the alleged swindles also is a mystery. In a lawsuit they filed in January 2014, they claimed to have purchased the 1,011-acre tract in Reeves County, Texas, paying $100,000 down and signing a $600,000 note. But they did not list the property or significant cash among their assets in their bankruptcy filing, as misrepresentation is one theme of their recent life. Faucette learned that the hard way.

He said they came across as down-to-earth and totally persuasive.

"They were real chatty, friendly almost to the point it was hard to do business with them," Faucette said. "They talked about their kids and all sorts of things."

After receiving advance payment for the hay, the Winbergs delivered one load. Eventually, after subsequent shipments did not show up, Faucette sent his truck to pick up another load. In all, he obtained 696 tons of the 15,000 he had purchased, according to a lawsuit he filed against the Winbergs in November. But it was not long before the Winbergs could not be reached by phone or email.

Faucette said he doubts he will recover any of the money owed him.

"I learned one thing," he said. "I had to forgive them because it was killing me. It was eating me up inside. I just hope they spend some serious time in prison."

The Winbergs had been set to go to trial in January. They will be returned to the U.S. No new trial date has been determined

Mike Tolson has been a journalist for more than 30 years and has worked for five newspapers, four of them in Texas. Although most of his career has been spent as a news reporter, he also wrote for features and sports sections in earlier years, and he was the city columnist for four years at the San Antonio Light.

At the Houston Chronicle, he has specialized in long-term projects and long-form weekend articles, while also handling daily reporting duties.

As a general assignments reporter, Tolson has written articles on just about every subject imaginable over the course of his career. However, he has specialized knowledge of civil and criminal justice matters.

A Georgia native, Tolson moved to Texas in 1964 and graduated from The University of Texas in 1976 with a Bachelor of Arts in English. He has lived in Texas' three major cities as well as Austin, Abilene and Temple. He is married and has two children.